46. Pride Dominates the Body
46. Pride Dominates the Body
***
—Greatsword.
One of the quintessential weapons of a man's dreams.
That was why it was always popular enough to rank near the top whenever weapon-use statistics were shown.
If it was massive and rugged, it had a simple charm all its own. Or a relatively thin greatsword adorned with elegant ornamentation had a refined beauty distinct from a one-handed sword.
In the end, all of it meant the weapon called the "greatsword" was cool.
Being cool naturally meant being popular, and when a popular weapon also belonged among the hard-to-handle weapons, the perception of that weapon changed.
In PVE raids, though, the greatsword's sheer weight made its users worse at dodging raid-monster attacks than other classes, so many of them died.
In PVP, it wasn't a favored weapon in 2v2 or 5v5 team matches either. A greatsword user could only attack an opponent with those sluggish movements if someone else set the stage by landing a status effect skill or something similar.
Eventually, in Another World, a derogatory term even emerged for greatsword users: "greatsword trash."
Meaning it had that many problems in various ways.
And the fully evolved form of that "greatsword trash."
The Challenger Tier greatsword user "Gosu" was the prime example.
......
—Well. So, Gosu, you saw Rin using a greatsword today too, right?
—That person Rin using a greatsword? I didn't see it. No time.
—Wait, you didn't watch Rin's video? You've missed out on half of life. Watch the VOD later or something! Rin's seriously good with a greatsword, so you'd probably learn something from watching.
Sluuurp.
Serin, who had been blankly drinking cola, stopped and stared at Sua on the screen.
'Is she messing with me right now?'
Things related to me kept coming up, strangely. And under Sua's lead, at that.
And what was that about losing half your life.
No, why was I, the one watching the stream, getting embarrassed?
"No. Sua..."
I'd ended my stream and was watching broadcasts to relax now. But listening to Sua's words, my face kept burning for some reason.
—Hold on. Did I have it wrong? I thought that person Rin was a Dancer class.
I asked Sua back with a dumbfounded look that practically said, What the hell are you talking about?
—That's right. Dancer class.
—Do you think it makes any common sense for a Dancer to use a greatsword?
—The community's even saying greatsword Dancer is worth researching, you know?
—No... what are you saying, like some strength wizard. Say something that makes sense!!
—It does make sense!? I watched Rin's stream today and she handled a greatsword just fine, so why are you denying it so hard? You sound exactly like greatsword trash.
—What? Greatsword trash?
As an untimely argument broke out between Sua and the user called Gosu, the chat window began blazing too.
[what's with gosu freaking out lololololololol]
[a dancer using a greatsword is fr hard to imagine]
[i couldn't believe it either until i watched rin's stream today lolol]
[strength wizard lololololololol]
[come to think of it, didn't they say they were watching rin and plea's streams?]
[it'd be perfect to just show them, greatsword users against each other lolol]
[gosu's gonna look at rin and be like this isn't a real greatsword user lmao]
[greatsword trash freakout button ON lolololol]
"He seems really closed-minded."
Watching the user called Gosu keep looking at Sua and saying it was nonsense, telling her not to lie, was pretty funny from a spectator's perspective.
'But strength wizards actually exist, you know.'
Of course, thinking about it from a common-sense standpoint, it might be a little hard to understand, but did he really need to show that much negativity?
But wasn't using a greatsword as a Dancer more reasonable than a strength wizard?
The thought suddenly occurred to Serin.
Even if I couldn't use a massive, thick "Buster Sword"-type greatsword, something like a claymore was still plenty worthy of being called a greatsword.
And if I compromised on a claymore with Weight Reduction as an additional effect, even a Dancer could use one depending on the player.
The war of words between Sua and Gosu continued after that.
From saying that a Dancer using a greatsword was in itself an insult to greatsword users, to claiming she couldn't use a greatsword properly.
What meaning was there in simply holding it, and so on. He kept talking, and watching it, I eventually couldn't hold back and typed in chat.
[Greatsword Dancer's actually pretty good, why? Want me to show you?]
......
"Ha."
I could see the user looking at me with a hollow laugh, as if dumbfounded.
The appearance of the character belonging to the user called "Gosu," whom I now faced in actual Another World, looked quite intimidating.
According to what Sua had told me beforehand, his class was "Berserker."
Unlike Sua, a Knight class wearing neat and tidy armor, the Berserker's armor, made up of terrifying spikes and blade-like sharp edges, felt a bit chilling.
But looking again, the pointy spikes positioned all over made him look like some kind of hedgehog.
I stared blankly at that figure and swung my greatsword.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
"How's that? I use a greatsword just fine, don't I?"
But after swinging it, I felt a bit weird.
What was I, some clown? Swinging it just to show off felt really odd, I guess you could say.
"Right. I told you Rin's good with a greatsword? Greatsword trash are so closed-minded, seriously."
"...Hey, can you quit it with the 'greatsword trash'?"
"No, then just admit it? What's wrong with a greatsword Dancer! Rin's just really beautiful."
'Is that... a compliment?'
Sometimes I doubted whether what Sua said was genuine. Since she said things like that right in front of the person, it was awkward to react, not knowing if she was messing with me or complimenting me.
"Admit what... holding a greatsword like that, what kind of greatsword user is that."
"Ugh, greatsword trash being spiteful again, huh?"
Watching Sua and Gosu's conversation, which seemed to be some kind of subtle psychological warfare, I thought the current situation was kind of funny.
Honestly, I wondered how things had gotten to this point. But now that I'd done it, I didn't think it was so bad.
Because sometimes it was fun to face someone that stubborn and shatter their assumptions head-on.
And it seemed like a decent post-meal warm-up too.
I was also curious how differently a real high-tier greatsword player would handle one.
"No... just, Rin? While I'm still asking nicely, put on your Crescent-Moon Weight or something. No, what am I supposed to do, dueling a Dancer wearing a greatsword? My pride won't survive this. Even if I win, I feel like I'll just get laughed at in the community."
Along with words that sounded like his victory was already decided.
'Pride.'
That word made me laugh without meaning to.
I'd already gotten a sense of what kind of personality this user called Gosu had from the way he spoke on stream. But when he actually said "pride," it felt like he might as well have announced, "This is exactly what I'm like!"
"Rin, are you... laughing right now?"
With a dead serious expression, as if asking whether the greatsword was funny, I almost nodded.
But he'd actually get upset if I did, so I forced myself to hold it in and answered aloud instead.
"Ah, yes, a little... It's just the way you're acting is funny, Gosu."
I said it out loud specifically so he'd get more upset.
"What? What's funny?"
The user called Gosu asked aggressively, to the point where I wondered if his body was really being taken over by pride.
"Um, Gosu? That pride of yours, isn't it something you can only keep if you beat me first?"
When I asked indirectly why he was talking like he'd already won, the user called Gosu, catching my meaning, looked dumbfounded.
"...No, so what. You're really saying you'll duel me with a greatsword?"
"Yes. And since you brought up pride, Gosu, I'll say this. I actually don't have many greatsword skills right now. How about we face each other with no skills at all, just greatswords?"
Facing each other with only pure greatsword fundamentals, excluding skills and such.
A person truly possessed by pride would accept this condition without much resistance.
"Ah. Sure, let's do that then. Rin, you seem to be getting a bit too full of yourself just because you beat Plea. I'll teach you a thing or two about greatswords this time."
He spoke with maximum arrogance, and it was so absurd I just laughed.
Should I call it cute?
I was already looking forward to how this user called Gosu's expression would change after some time passed.
On top of that, the chat window was in an uproar over the current situation.
[lolololol crazy is this sudden big match for real lolololol]
[rin and gosu are actually fighting?]
[lolololol no but gosu has no shame, he's using his main weapon]
[fr he should've given himself a handicap or something]
[but does rin actually use a greatsword well?]
[why is rin so confident against a challenger greatsword user]
[she beat plea so gosu looks easy, no?]
[wasn't greatsword dancer just low-rank stomping? she's using a greatsword against gosu?]
[but rin has nothing to lose even if she loses lolol]
[fr lol]
[gosu loses or even draws and it's a huge loss for him lolololololol]
As I was checking the rapidly scrolling chat for a moment, Sua came over and asked carefully.
"Um, Rin... are you really okay?"
She asked with a slightly worried look, and I answered without hesitation.
"Yes. I'm fine."
Honestly, if I could use skills, I could guarantee my victory. Though I couldn't be certain.
If it was a pure contest of physical skill with no abilities involved, then I really...
Had no confidence.
No confidence that I'd lose.